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Hero ( mythical priestess ), in Greek mythology, priestess of Aphrodite, goddess of love, at Sestos, a town on the Hellespont ( now Dardanelles ).

Hero was loved by Leander, a youth who lived at Abydos, a town on the Asian side of the channel.

They could not marry because Hero was bound by a vow of chastity, and so every night Leander swam from Asia to Europe, guided by a lamp in Hero's tower.

One stormy night a high wind extinguished the beacon, and Leander was drowned.

His body was washed ashore beneath Hero's tower ; in her grief, she threw herself into the sea.